June 12th, 6:30 - 9:30pm, Impact Hub, Kings Cross London
The Elephant In the Woods – an evening of music, talk, drink & more about how our future is linked to the fate of the forests
Saving forests was once in... read more

Across the globe the trade in diamonds and coloured stones is associated with conflict and human rights abuse. Concerns about these issues in countries such as Afghanistan and Zimbabwe demonstrate that existing... read more

Join us at Hay Festival this week for a series of conversations about changing the system - with people who have done just that. We’ll be talking to Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who blew the lid on the extent of NSA... read more

Three AGMs as a public company and three times Global Witness has publicly asked Glencore’s board to commission an independent investigation into its Congo deals. Glencore’s Chairman Tony Hayward was unequivocal in... read more

The company has again failed to answer some fundamental questions about the OPL 245 deal and its continued lobby to keep payments to governments secret.
We welcome Shell’s invitation to discuss the OPL 245 deal... read more

Business people sometimes think we campaigners are a bit naïve. Our lofty ideals should be accommodated as far as possible, but business is business. We need to be realistic about how the world works.
Well, we are... read more

Campaigners call on Shell to stop lobbying against new transparency laws
Royal Dutch Shell’s involvement in a deal which saw $1.1bn diverted into the hands of a former Nigerian oil minister could see the company lose a... read more

Glencore, the world’s largest commodities trader, enriched a friend of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s president by tens of millions of dollars and protected his interests as it gained control of one of Africa’s... read more

U.S. Court of Appeals denies industry’s request to delay Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank in third consecutive ruling upholding the law
Global Witness applauds the swift decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C... read more

Para leer el texto en español, haga click aquí.
As the trial of more than 50 indigenous leaders gets underway in Peru, Global Witness urges the government to ensure a fair hearing. The defendants face up to life... read more

The UK overseas territory of Montserrat is holding a public consultation on whether to make information on the ultimate, beneficial owners of companies public. The consultation is very easy to fill in -... read more

See Global Witness Director Patrick Alley’s TEDxExeter talk and blog on how the logging industry tricked us into financing our own destruction.
In 1876 a group of famous explorers gathered in Brussels for the... read more

Lire en français
A Global Witness report last month on a controversial oil deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo received wide media coverage and focused attention on how the country’s oil wealth is being managed.... read more

Lire en français
Global Witness has submitted its defence to a lawsuit filed by officials of Beny Steinmetz Group Resources in the UK’s High Court, arguing that the case amounts to an attempt to stifle reporting on a... read more

Lire en français
Congo has suspended the passage of a controversial oil bill through parliament, in order to allow more time for consultation. It has been criticised by MPs in Congo, donor governments, UNESCO and... read more

Lire en français
The Democratic Republic of Congo has struck a deal to buy back oil rights from a secretive offshore company for a sum likely to be hundreds of times the price the company paid several years earlier,... read more

Global Witness welcomes recommendations released today by Canadian civil society and mining associations that lay out a framework for Canada to adopt a revenue transparency provision for all publicly listed mining... read more

Lire en français
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has begun to debate a new oil bill which has been criticised by campaigners, MPs in Congo and donor governments.... read more

Following reports in the New Vision that the Government of Uganda is seeking a $115m World Bank loan for its Oil Region Development Project, Global Witness is calling for greater transparency in the murky oil... read more

UK–based company Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) is accused of involvement in the arbitrary arrest and assault of Liberian community members who claim that they were resisting EPO's efforts to take their land. Investigations... read more

In its statement regarding Global Witness’ report ‘Azerbaijan Anonymous’ Socar asserted that “There seems to be underlying tone in the Report to portray in a negative way and with envy the increasing influence of SOCAR... read more

Officials of the companies Beny Steinmetz Group Resources and Onyx Financial Advisers have filed a claim in the UK High Court against Global Witness under the Data Protection Act. The officials are using the... read more

Credit Suisse became the largest institutional shareholder in Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) just two weeks after Global Witness exposed a range of environmental and human rights abuses in the company’... read more

Click here to go to the report page.
Azərbaycan oxuyun.
Пресс-релиз на русском.
Findings pose a challenge for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
Azerbaijan Anonymous, a new report released today by Global... read more

Download this briefing
Read the press release: Justice for Sierra Leone and Charles Taylor found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity
On 26 April 2012 the Special Court for Sierra Leone found former... read more

Ahead of the NATO Chicago Summit this month, Global Witness, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, and the Revenue Watch Institute have sent a joint civil society letter to Secretary General Rasmussen urging all NATO member... read more

On this page you will find details of the Global Witness investigation into Glencore, including the briefing we sent to Glencore's shareholders and questions we put to Glencore and Dan Gertler in writing, along with the... read more

Read report
Read press release
Since 2008, the rush for land in developing countries has rapidly intensified but the sector remains largely unregulated and land deals are frequently agreed in secret between... read more

Download the briefing: Extractive sector transparency: Why the EU needs a strong set of rules
THE PROBLEM:
In 2009, Africa’s oil, gas and minerals exports were worth roughly five times the value of international aid to... read more

Global Witness has obtained Gaddafi-era documents that detail the mismanagement of millions of dollars of Libyan oil revenues and highlight murky practices by Libya's state-owned National Oil Company (NOC). These... read more

Global Witness welcomes this opportunity to provide input to the report by the UN Secretary-General on how the United Nations system as a whole, including programmes, funds and specialized agencies, can contribute to... read more

As Uganda’s draft oil laws are presented to Parliament, a Global Witness analysis of the legislation highlights the need for greater environmental, social and transparency provisions.
Uganda has recently discovered oil... read more

Global Witness' response to an International Development Select Committee Inquiry on Tax and Development. Our response highlights the need for disclosure of revenue payments in the extractive sector and for more... read more

By Tom Burgis in London
US authorities have launched an investigation into Cobalt International Energy’s operations in Angola, where the Goldman Sachs-backed group is developing one of the world’s most promising oil... read more

Read the full BP Angola briefing
Read BP's Letter to Gavin Hayman, Campaigns Director at Global Witness
As oil industry lobbyists attempt to water down watershed transparency legislation in the United States and the... read more

Global Witness is seeking an Executive Director to run the organisation and its pioneering investigations and campaigns. Please note that the deadline for applications has been extended until 5 January 2015. See here... read more

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) has shown its confidence in Global Witness and wants to help build a campaigning organisation that is deep-rooted, long-lasting and even more effective, with a strong infrastructure... read more

"Africa's minerals, precious stones and other commodities should have brought better lives for African people. But for decades these trades have funded and fuelled some of the continent's most brutal wars. More... read more

When an oil company promises to suspend hugely controversial work in Africa’s oldest national park it should be cause for celebration. But the commitment by British oil company Soco to withdraw from Virunga... read more

June 12th, 6:30 - 9:30pm, Impact Hub, Kings Cross London
The Elephant In the Woods – an evening of music, talk, drink & more about how our future is linked to the fate of the forests
Saving forests was once in... read more

Join us at Hay Festival this week for a series of conversations about changing the system - with people who have done just that. We’ll be talking to Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who blew the lid on the extent of NSA... read more

Three AGMs as a public company and three times Global Witness has publicly asked Glencore’s board to commission an independent investigation into its Congo deals. Glencore’s Chairman Tony Hayward was unequivocal in... read more

Business people sometimes think we campaigners are a bit naïve. Our lofty ideals should be accommodated as far as possible, but business is business. We need to be realistic about how the world works.
Well, we are... read more

See Global Witness Director Patrick Alley’s TEDxExeter talk and blog on how the logging industry tricked us into financing our own destruction.
In 1876 a group of famous explorers gathered in Brussels for the... read more

The City of London Police has commissioned this short crime prevention video to demonstrate the impact that a corruption investigation could have on companies and individuals who ignore the Bribery Act and break the law... read more

Last week, Forbes.com published a piece by Tim Worstall in which he argued against the introduction of legally binding measures in the EU to tackle conflict minerals. The piece, titled ‘Global Witness’ Latest Silly... read more

As President Barack Obama returns to Myanmar, leading members of the US Congress call for the country's rulers to live up to their promises of reform by allowing citizens access to the information and freedom... read more

This article is written by Dr Guo Peiyuan, SynTao General Manager and based on his presentation at 2013 EITI Global Conference.
The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) has been... read more

Diarmid O'Sullivan, Open Society Foundation research fellow and ex-Global Witness campaigner has released a report today on how transparency helps identify problems in the governance of natural resources, as well... read more

At least 500 people have been uprooted from their homes to make way for luxury villas where European Union foreign ministers, including William Hague, will stay during a summit in Laos on Monday, writes David Blair in... read more

A report by Peru Support Group.
Abstract: High gold prices, persistent poverty and a shortage of employment opportunities in Peru have all contributed to an increase in artisanal and small-scale gold mining activity in... read more

Shell companies
Launderers Anonymous
A study highlights how easy it is to set up untraceable companies
Sep 22nd 2012 | NEW YORK | from The Economist
SHELL companies—which exist on paper only, with no real... read more

"A $150-million investment ties Tokyo Sexwale to a controversial Israeli businessman as he pulled off the "heist" of a prize mining asset in the DRC" - Mail & Guardian. Click here to read the article. read more

South Sudan will market its crude through its oil ministry, an oil official said on Thursday casting further doubt on the role trading major Glencore's venture will have in selling the nation's oil. Alexander Dziadosz... read more

Britain is being urged to help close down a legal loophole that lets financiers known as "vulture funds" use courts in Jersey to claim hundreds of millions of pounds from the world's poorest countries, write Greg Palast... read more

Clariden Leu AG, with roots that make it Switzerland's oldest private bank, has begun telling certain U.S. customers suspected of offshore tax evasion that it will disclose their names to the U.S. Internal Revenue... read more

Officials working with Libya's new governing authority are examining whether any payments made by Société Générale SA as part of its business relationship with the Libyan Investment Authority ended up in the hands of... read more

South Sudan's oil minister said on Saturday that an oil cargo detained by northern officials in Port Sudan in a row over duty payments had now sailed, but that negotiations over transit fees were stalled - read... read more

A major international anti-corruption provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation remains stalled at the Securities and Exchange Commission, a year after the bill was passed by Congress and three months... read more

Europe must do its bit to stop the trade in conflict minerals
We have to let our leaders know we do understand the link between products we buy and the suffering of others
By Ed Zwick - Originally published at... read more

简体中文
EU anti-corruption laws will hit Chinese companies overseas
China Dialogue
PetroChina, Sinopec and other Chinese companies will be required to reveal payments made to overseas governments as a condition of... read more

Today The Economist came out in support of the campaign “to put a stop to hidden company ownership and to make energy and mining companies disclose more about the payments they make to win concessions.”
Global Witness... read more

South Sudan hopes to sell several unexplored oil blocks for $1 billion in coming months, a finance official said, giving a potential lifeline for the African country's hobbled economy. Reuters.
To read the Global... read more

One story that will be sure to develop in 2013 is the controversy around ENRC’s activities in Congo. For the background for this, a good place to start is the Global Witness statement of 23 December: “ENRC shareholders... read more

Rosie Sharpe, Senior campaigner, Global Witness
Investigations carried out by the Guardian, ICIJ and the BBC's Panorama programme into the ease with which anonymous shell companies can be used to move dirty money... read more

From the Daily Mail
ENRC has resolved not to buy mineral rights via controversial middlemen who campaign groups say pose an appearance or risk of corruption, the Mail understands.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman has taken an... read more

With peril looming on both countries’ economic horizons, Sudan and South Sudan brokered a milestone oil-transit agreement over the weekend to the effusive praise of the international community. The deal represents a... read more

South Sudan says it will allow full access to information involving deals with international financial institutions, following a report by Global Witness on Wednesday, which it recommends that the new nation “exercise... read more

An intense lobbying campaign is under way as U.S. authorities prepare to implement what are supposed to be investor-friendly laws designed to clarify the global operations of listed oil companies. Zhang Tao and Wang... read more

Rob Walker of the BBC Assignment team investigates what’s happened to billions of dollars in oil revenues paid to the government of Equatorial Guinea since it's oil boom in the 1990s.
Anthea Lawson from Global... read more

Global Witness has long campaigned for companies to come clean about who actually owns them. In most countries in the world individuals can legally disguise their identities and their assets behind anonymous shell... read more

Diamonds worth hundreds of millions of dollars are due to be put on sale on Friday by a joint Chinese-Zimbabwean company with strong military ties. The auction follows last month's decision by the industry watchdog... read more

China, the largest buyer of Sudanese crude oil, is pressing Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan to end a row that has led to the blockade of about 200,000 barrels a day of crude oil and contributed to... read more